Circuses

I APPRECIATE your fine report on the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus, which appeared in the Central Florida Business section on Jan. 27.There was an error that I want to call to your attention. The story said there are only two other circuses in the United States. There are quite a few more than that. May I mention Carson and Barnes of Hugo, Okla., (larger than Beatty-Cole) and the Toby Tyler Circus of Sarasota.The Great American Circus of Miami and the Franzen Brothers Circus, now wintering in Webster, Fla., are sizable circuses that come to mind.

Howey mansion's decline The Orlando Sentinel missed one of the most historical homes in Lake County in Wednesday's article "We lack history? Not at these sites. " The Mediterranean-style Howey Mansion was completed in the mid-1920s in the booming citrus town of Howey-in-the-Hills. Its architect was a New York woman, Katherine Cotheal Budd, who also designed the historic home in Tavares facing Lake Dora, adjacent to Wooten Park. The Howey Mansion was placed in the National Register of Historic Places on Jan. 27, 1983.

AS A longtime circus fan, I feel compelled to set the record straight regarding allegations of animal abuse in the circus. Animal-rights organizations seek to blame the entire circus industry for the irresponsible actions of a few. The vast majority of performing cirus animals are loved and well cared for, and this includes Orlando's Moscow Circus.The animal-rights activists who protest circuses often will resort to disruption, harassment and vandalism to convey their views further. They want to put circuses (and zoos)

Today 4th and 5th grade students from the Lake Eola Charter School were invited to a big cat clinic with trainer and presenter Alexander Lacey, who would give them a demonstration on the training and care of lions and tigers traveling with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus show at the Amway Center. Lacey, a native Nottingham, England, grew up around big cats. His father was a zoo and circus director, his mother presented shows with tigers and leopards. His family has raised more than 11 generations of lions and nine generations of tigers.

We asked you: Should circuses do away with wild-animal acts? YES: 90% NO: 10% Keep wild animals in habitats We must look beyond the few minutes of entertainment we get from watching animals perform tricks and ask ourselves: Where do wild animals really belong? They belong in the wild, engaging in the unique activities at which nature made them experts. They are dignified, self-sufficient creatures that deserve a free life in the places that they rightfully call home.

The first circus I remember seeing was when I was probably 7 or 8 years old. It was near Lawrence, Ind., a small suburb north of Indianapolis. Some playmates and I sneaked under the tent to get into the circus without paying. At the time, I thought that was how one was supposed to enter a big top. The sneaking-in part was exciting, but I can't say I was too thrilled with the circus part. There were the usual boring collections of clowns and acrobats, a few aging lions and tigers, and some daredevils walking on a tightrope not so high above.

The widely held notion that most of the profits from Shrine circuses go to Shrine hospitals for crippled children is a multimillion-dollar myth perpetuated by years of tying almost all of their fund-raising activities to the hospitals.The tax-exempt circuses are the fraternal organization's most visible and lucrative source of fund raising. Yet a six-month study of Shrine finances by The Orlando Sentinel found that temples reporting circus revenue to the Internal Revenue Service in 1984 donated only about 1 percent of their profits to Shrine hospitals.

The Shrine has lobbied hard to keep its circuses tax-free though they are profit-making businesses.Tax-exempt groups must pay a tax on business activities unrelated to exempt purposes. However, the government does not tax ''intermittent'' business activities. A once-a-year fund-raising dance at a garden club would not be taxed.Because Shrine circuses generally do not contribute money to charity -- and because operating a circus is unrelated to the purpose of the fraternity -- some in government have argued the events should be taxed.

Shrine hospitals get little support from Shrine circuses, but most Shrine temples could not pay their bills without an annual circus.Shrine national leaders say they do not know how many temples sponsor a yearly circus or how much money the circuses make. Edward McMullan, a member of the Shrine board of directors, says that the circuses are ''a big business. The temples could not exist, could not operate, without them.''They are such a big business that the tax-exempt Shrine sponsors more circuses than any other organization in the country.

A spokesman for the Shrine Circus Association of North America said Tuesday that Shriners hold 400 circuses each year.''There are at least 400, including Shrine clubs and temples,'' said Virgil Wilder, a member of the A Chymia Temple in Memphis, Tenn., and vice president of the circus association.The Orlando Sentinel reported Monday that at least 175 Shrine temples hold an annual circus and that they raise about $17.5 million a year. Of that, Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children received 1 percent, or about $182,000.

Cold-weather priorities Having family and friends in the Midwest and Northeast, I've been paying attention to the coverage of the polar vortex and its consequences. There have been many stories about the lines at airports and train stations, canceled flights and the inconveniences of piles of snow, dangerous weather and closed schools and offices. I've seen pictures of boiling water freezing as it hits the frigid air. The advice is stay indoors, no unnecessary travel, keep warm and take care of your pets.

Trapezes and animals are staples of any Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, but each edition has its own highlights. Here's what to expect during "Legends" in Orlando: • Along with nine Asian elephants, six lions and 20 horses, watch for a Pegasus, unicorn and a woolly mammoth — as if you could miss them. "Legends" director Rye Mullis isn't saying how these mythological mammals joined Ringling Bros., but he admits they can be divas. "Temperamental," says Mullis of his four-legged stars.

P.T. Barnum 's legacy has come full circle. Years before his circus days, the showman made a name for himself by exhibiting dubious mythological critters such as the embalmed "Feejee Mermaid" at his Barnum's American Museum in New York City. In "Legends," the latest touring Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus , fantastical creatures are once again in the spotlight, with circus producers touting the news that a unicorn , Pegasus and woolly mammoth will join the usual menagerie of elephants and tigers when the circus comes to Orlando's Amway Center this week.

"Legends" is the theme of the new edition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus that will pull into Orlando in the early days of 2014. It's a word that would describe several famous circus characters, from the iconic animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams to entrepreneur P.T. Barnum, who planted the seeds for the famous circus with his "Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome" in the mid-19th century. In its modern incarnation, the big-top extravaganza has expanded to include daredevils, acrobats and an evolving array of acts that cater to the mythical and mysterious.

Let's get it over with and change the name of One Buc Place to Dysfunction Junction. Or maybe we're just watching the extended director's cut of Mean Girls. It gets confusing with all the bickering and the backstabbing. The coach loathes the quarterback. The quarterback loathes the coach. The kicker contracts MRSA in the locker room and his wife goes on a Twitter rant against the organization. The NFL Players Association files a grievance against the team on behalf of the kicker, Lawrence Tynes, questioning whether the team denied him certain benefits.

Call it the Great Camel Rescue. Some camels and chickens - and their driver - escaped injury Tuesday when a circus truck caught on fire on Florida's Turnpike in west Orange County, a Fire Rescue spokesman said. The brakes overheated and the rear wheels of the tractor portion of the tractor-trailer erupted into flames near Winter Garden/Clermont Exit 272, authorities said. Firefighters quickly put out the fire. The truck belongs to Circo Hermanos Vazquez - Vazquez Brothers Circus in English.

Under East Germany's former Communist regime, people sometimes invoked the State Circus to make sly references to the way the state was run.What's happening to the State Circus now, however, is no joking matter. Facing the loss of state subsidies that kept it going under communism, the circus is firing employees and giving away animals as it slims down to fight for its survival.''We are confronted with a question of to be or not to be,'' said Gerhard Klauss, 46, the circus director for the last four years.

The balancing act departed for Reno. The dancing dogs landed a gig in Chile. And the acrobats split for Las Vegas.The 85-member troupe that arrived in Orlando just a year ago to establish the Moscow Circus has dwindled to a handful of performers, out of work and out of luck.Many of the troupe's acts have returned to Russia. Others have landed jobs with American circuses.Ringmaster Sergei Tolstikhin and Rasul Abdoullaev, the tent-maker-turned-circus-owner, still hope to find a backer who shares their vision of a big top on International Drive.

There are no clowns, lion tamers or elephant parades in "Circus Acts: An Aerial & Acrobatic Adventure. " This show takes to the sky with performances on ribbons, bars and other suspended apparatus, spotlighting students and instructors of Orlando's Circus Arts School. The airborne theme extends to the soundtrack, going flighty places such as "Blue Skies," the theme from "Superman," "99 Red Balloons" and so forth. A highlight, ironically, was tied to flightless birds. The two male members of the cast, dressed in tuxes, tails and penguin caps, achieved partner stunts punctuated with humor.

One of the U.S. Secret Service's most wanted fugitives is finally behind bars in Orange County and after a ruling Friday in federal court, he will remain there. Elton Paige, a freelance musician and lawn care service worker, has a lengthy rap sheet with arrests for drug violations, violent armed robberies and aggravated battery. His latest legal issues stem from 2011 accusations of spending counterfeit money in a strip club and several retail stores in Casselberry and Orlando. According to a federal affidavit, 36-year-old Paige was one of at least three people involved in a counterfeiting ring that "bleached" $5 bills.